C&D Technologies Comments on Financial Expectations for Fiscal 2007
October 31 2006 - 9:19AM
PR Newswire (US)
Raw material costs and weaker Power Electronics shipments will
impact recovery plan in Q3 and Q4. Pricing actions and additional
cost reduction activities initiated. BLUE BELL, Pa., Oct. 31
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- C&D Technologies (NYSE: CHP), a
leading global producer and marketer of electrical power storage
and conversion products used in telecommunications, industrial and
motive applications, today announced that it is revising financial
guidance for fiscal 2007. During C&D's prior second quarter
earnings conference call, the Company indicated that it expected to
return to profitability in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.
Subsequently, continued rapid escalation of lead costs to
historically unprecedented levels, as well as softness in certain
end markets for the Power Electronics Division, has led the Company
to revise this outlook. The Company now expects losses to be worse
than it previously expected during its third quarter and to
continue at least through the end of its current fiscal year,
January 31, 2007. In response to these conditions, the Company
recently announced price increases for its lead-containing
products. The Company is also accelerating its cost reduction
actions. "There are two main factors that necessitate today's
revised outlook," said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, President and Chief
Executive Officer for C&D Technologies. "We have seen nearly a
30% increase in the price of lead, the primary raw material for
both our Standby Power and Motive Power businesses, during the
third quarter alone. While we have taken pricing actions to
counteract these cost pressures, and are evaluating further pricing
actions, we do not expect to see any positive impact until after
the current pricing actions take effect later in our fourth
quarter. In addition, key customers in our Power Electronics
Division have pushed out or cancelled orders which were scheduled
for fiscal 2007 due to softening or increased uncertainty of demand
in certain end-markets." Dr. Graves continued, "We are taking
further immediate and decisive actions to improve our cost
structure. Today, we announced a difficult, but necessary decision
to close our Portland facility which services our Power Electronics
Division. Portland has served as a development center for board
mount power applications and its activities will be centralized
into our Toronto, Canada and Mansfield, Massachusetts operations.
We expect this action alone will drive annualized costs savings of
approximately $5 million. The consolidation of design centers will
be completed during the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. "Within
our Power Systems Division, we have undertaken a review of all
aspects of our business and have identified competitiveness and
cost improvement opportunities in a number of areas, particularly
in manufacturing and sourcing. These opportunities, allied to
improvement initiatives that are already underway, manufacturing
relocation to low cost environments, reorganization and continuous
improvement, will provide momentum to performance improvement and
business agility. We are confident that our turnaround plan for
C&D Technologies is on target, even if our return to
profitability has now been delayed." Additionally, C&D
Technologies announced today that its second-lien lenders agreed to
a waiver of the leverage ratio covenant of the term-loan agreement
for October 31, 2006, until November 30, 2006. The Company will
provide additional details on its year-end outlook and cost
reduction plans during its third quarter conference call in
December. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may
contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934), which are based on management's current
expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in
circumstances. Words and expressions reflecting something other
than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such
statements. Factors, such as fluctuations in prices and
availability of raw materials, particularly lead; success of
productivity initiatives, including rationalizations, relocations
or consolidations; and economic conditions or market changes in
certain market sectors in which we conduct business; and those
other factors that appear with the forward-looking statements, or
in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings
(including without limitation the company's annual report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2006, or the quarterly
and current reports filed on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K thereafter),
could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from
those expressed in any forward-looking statements made herein.
About C&D Technologies: C&D Technologies, Inc. provides
solutions and services for the switchgear and control (utility),
motive (material handling), telecommunications, and uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) markets, as well as emerging markets such as
solar power. C&D Technologies engineers, manufactures, sells
and services fully integrated reserve power systems for regulating
and monitoring power flow and providing backup power in the event
of primary power loss until the primary source can be restored.
Through our Power Electronics Division, we manufacture and market
custom, standard and modified-standard electronic power supply
systems, including DC to DC converters, for large OEMs of
telecommunications and networking equipment, as well as office and
industrial equipment. The division also manufactures power
conversion products sold into military and CATV applications as
well as digital panel meters and data acquisition components.
C&D Technologies' unique ability to offer complete systems,
designed and produced to high technical standards, sets it apart
from its competition. C&D Technologies is headquartered in Blue
Bell, PA. For more information about C&D Technologies, visit
http://www.cdtechno.com/. C&D(R) is a registered trademark of
C&D Technologies, Inc. DATASOURCE: C&D Technologies, Inc.
CONTACT: Ian Harvie of C&D, +1-215-619-7835; or Joseph Crivelli
of Gregory FCA, for C&D, +1-610-642-8253 Web Site:
http://www.cdtechno.com/
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